Ninja Scroll (1993)

​Samurai films otherwise known as “Chanbara” which is a sub-category for Jidaigeki remain an important part of Japanese Cinema; period dramas set during the era of Feudal Japan would focus heavily on the development of wandering a ronin as they try to alter the course of their own lives and those around them. This movie, being one of Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s most well-known films not only details in the epitome of over the top violence and gratuitous nudity of this type of Anime from the 90’s, but it captured the harsh and threatening lifestyle of Feudal Japan with the end result being a rather influential movie. 

​The movie focuses on vagabond Jubei Kibagami (inspired by the famed Japanese folk hero Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi) as he is outrunning past due to a terrible betrayal. Now a sword for hire and wanting nothing more to do with political & warring states he is dragged into a government conspiracy after saving a lone ninja woman named Kagero from an attempted rape, then once he is poisoned by a government spy named Dakuan he then digs deeper to discover that the conspiracy is being carried out by the man he thought he had killed and will have to grapple with The Eight Devils of Kimon, who serve under the mysterious “Shogun of the Dark” before they plan to rule the country of Japan through fear and intimidation.

​As a part of the Anime boom of the 1990’s, Ninja Scroll stood out as one most popular anime films next to Ghost in the Shell and Akira and really helped pave way for Japanese Animation to try something that was a little grittier and for audiences. As a movie however based on it’s plot Ninja Scroll shares a very similarity to John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, where in you have the main character who’s in it mostly for himself and is asked by a government representative to fight for them and when he refuses the offer he is then drugged to which throughout the film he spends most of the time begrudgingly doing the task for which he was made to do until he gets the cure. Despite the plot similarity this film does a good job of displaying it’s violence as well as a level of mystery to who the main threat is and what’s going on behind the scenes, so you are left wondering where this film is going when you see Jubei go up against opponents who are much stronger than him. 

​The characters for this movie stand out for one distinction; they don’t have any likeable or unlikable traits. Each character in this movie acts on his or own intuition and by the end of it really doesn’t leave anything about them that makes you like them or hate them. Jubei Kibagami as the protagonist is a wandering vagabond who’s just trying to get by without being dragged into anyone else’s mess, he’s not selfish but he’s not eager to help other people. However as the story progresses you find that his backstory and eventually his sour relationship with Kagero keeps you invested into where he will go and where the film will go with this character. The character of Kagero who is a poison taster for the Mochizuki clan spends most of the film rather aloof and distant, despite when she is being sexually assaulted she’s a character you don’t attach to that well, despite being a poison taster the one problem with that comes with that she would instantly kill any man who slept with her which explains why she presents herself the way she is. The character Dakuan is your typical shady government spy, he comes across as sly, shrewd and very blunt character who be a little sadistic as the plot progresses you see more of what he can do. So the main leading cast really are set up moderately well, although they are the “good guys” their needs are purely their own and are just more interested in getting job done whilst showing a small bit of empathy towards one another, The interesting part about this film however are the villains.

​The villains are the The Eight Devils of Kimon, 8 ninjas with supernatural skills. 
•    Tessai - An incredibly large man who has the ability to turn his skin as hard as rock and fights with a double-bladed sword, which he is capable of throwing great distances. 
•    Benisato - A woman with snake tattoos covering her whole body that can come to life and envelope her victims. 
•    Mushizo - A hunchbacked monk, who holds a wasp's nest in his back, able to control the wasps to do his bidding.
•    Mujuro Utsutsu - An incredibly skilled, blind swordsman who is the only member who doesn’t really have any supernatural powers. 
•    Shijima - A ninja with the ability to hide into the shadows, create clones of himself, fire a large metallic claw from his hand and possess victims minds.
•    Yurimaru - A young man with the ability of generates electricity from his body, and combines with a steel wire that wraps around his target's neck to conduct the electricity. 
•    Zakuro - A woman with ability to manipulate gunpowder, and plants them inside living or dead organisms.
•    Genma Himuro – The Leader of the Eight Devils, with an intention rule Japan under his control who was originally a member of the Yamashiro Clan.

​The main seven devils serve as rather interesting antagonists for Jubei to go up against as each of their powers are used creatively and in ways to showcase some rather gruesome ways for characters who appear through the movie to die, they’re designs stand out and although not well developed they make great characters to see the main hero go up against. 

​Production of this movie is an interesting look as well as the background of Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Kawajiri was never that directly influenced by anime during his career as an animator then director and instead was influenced by western films, that western influence left a huge impression on the style of how the characters in his work look, adapting to this more detailed, human appearance rather than a simplistic style found in common anime when it comes to the look and style. The look of Ninja Scroll boils down to the world and how it’s presented through the film, everything from the weapons, the clothing, the buildings etc are designed carefully to where everything looks real and almost nothing appears in bright colours. To match the mood of the film everything is either hidden in shadows or appeared in different colours of lighting whether it is blue or red, so that the characters are setting up their supposed powers or getting ready to take out one another. Apart from the animation being carried out by Studio Madhouse the one thing that sounds out about this are the character designs by Yutaka Minowa (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Animatrix, Space Pirate Captain Harlock), Minowa and Kawajiri go well together due to how both of their styles bounce off one another. Yutaka Minowa’s approach to character designs often go from being slick and beautiful to disproportionate and unrealistic based on the characters and how they look, as these aren’t real people but try to maintain that appearance of real people especially when you see how certain characters based on different heights and facial deformities wouldn’t really been seen much in real life.

​Audio for the movie is big in terms of its music; the score by Karou Wada brings that authentic feel of Feudal Japan in the film. From powerful and bombastic when the fights are occurring to sombre and quiet for more emotional scenes that drop the film’s pace right down and give you a chance to appreciate what’s going on, the score also displays a wide arrange of instruments used for the authenticity of the films setting such as the Flute for tracks such as "Kagerou" & "Visions". The only vocal song right at the end of the film called “To Those Who Face the Wind" by Ryohei Yamanashi has a melancholy sound to it but has a small tinge of uplift which feels rather out of place for a film with such a dark tone, but once the film’s plot has been followed and you can see the cast develop through it, it works for what it’s trying to do. 

​The English dub for this movie by Animaze has a certain level of age to show for it, but it serves as a pretty okay dub for who they picked for the cast. Dean Elliott as Jubei Kibagami plays him as stern, rather distant and not very interested character but managing to latch onto a feeling of concern for his cause and what he is doing to make it, Wendee Lee manages to play Kagero with lack of sympathy and a rather cold presence at first but once the character warms up through the events of the movie Wendee does a rather good job at showing some emotion for the character, Stephen Apostolina plays Dakugan pretty well to where he doesn’t try and make this character sound like your typical Anime old man wherein he’s perverted all the time nonstop, he plays him as a sly and cunning individual with a humorous streak to him which in some way gives off that “Scumbag” quality to him. The rest of the supporting cast including names such as Beau Billingslea, Kirk Thornton, Richard Cansino and even Richard Epcar as Himuro Gemma do rather well in their parts, playing characters that are either thuggish, mysterious or something completely different. 

​Following on from the movie, a TV series that ran in 2003 was aired picking up from the movie to where it continues the story of Jubei Kibagami where instead Yoshiaki Kawajiri served as the writer for which is why the show’s animation and style isn’t on the same page as the film. A 12 – issue comic book series from Wildstorm written by J. Torres and sequel which unfortunately production was halted on due to lack of funding, so over the years Ninja Scroll has built itself a small legacy which remains pretty strong because of the influence it’s had.

​ Overall Ninja Scroll is a cult movie in Anime, it’s characters while lacking in depth keep this movie from getting boring, the animation is gorgeous and stands out because of its production quality and while the story isn’t incredibly deep or complex it makes up for the fact that this movie is pure entertainment based on its sex and violence.

One of Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s best films and one that has left its mark on the industry.

​Highly Recommended. 

​Sami Sadek is a lifelong Transformers and Anime fan, and can often be found propping up bars or appearing in the background of Auto Assembly vids. He has also talks on Youtube, Tumbls on Tumblr, Tweets on Twitter, doodles on Deviantart and is a regular co-host on this very site's Cyberritz. He has never had a swordfight atop a church whilst a crow watches. Honest.